Founders & Officers

TERRY QUINN – PRESIDENT, CO-FOUNDER

Terry Quinn, co-founder of Academics In Motion, has been involved with children and sports, from little league baseball to high school football and lacrosse, for over twenty years.  A graduate of Springfield College, a school rich in tradition for its community involvement and awareness of the social issues, Terry’s professional career, however, had largely been in high tech software/technology sales, working for industry leading companies in the New York City area.  In 2005, inspired by his work as a football coach of student athletes from poor neighborhoods and underperforming schools, Terry decided to create an organization that would help these students reach their full academics and athletic potential.  Partnering with Jim Presbrey, an expert in sports counseling, Terry created The Give Back Foundation, which later became known as Academics In Motion.  Returning to the values of community involvement and social awareness instilled in him at Springfield College, Terry provided the initial seed money to launch Academics In Motion.  Today, he serves as the fulltime Executive Director of Academics In Motion.

JIM PRESBREY – VICE PRESIDENT & SECRETARY, CO-FOUNDER

For over fifteen years, Jim Presbrey has been committed to assisting student athletes in their quest to excel both on and off the field. In 2005, together with Terry Quinn, Jim co-founded Academics In Motion. As the Vice President and Secretary, Jim brings his extensive expertise in sports counseling to this leading youth development non-profit organization.

Jim also serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Extra Hands and the Jack Orchard ALS Foundation. These national foundations aim to instill the importance of community service and develop leadership qualities in young adults by uniting them with people who have ALS and their families.

Prior to Extra Hands, Jim was the National Director for The National Football Foundation's “Play It Smart” program. He has been involved with both the development and implementation of this student athlete support initiative from its inception. After assisting with the initial development, Jim continued to work with the program as the Academic Coach at Orange High School in Orange, New Jersey during the pilot phase. He has seen first-hand the positive effects that this program has had on the young men who participate.

Jim obtained a degree in Sociology while playing for College Hall of Fame Coach Jim Butterfield at Ithaca College, He then spent several years in coaching before he returned to school to pursue an advanced degree in Counseling Psychology at Springfield College. Upon gradation he worked as a counselor at the United States Olympic Training Center. Jim also spent time as a counselor at the University of Maine, Temple University and Rutgers University.

Jim is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at Temple University. Jim and his wife, Joann, have three children, Alexandra, Michael, and Josephina and live in Manasquan, New Jersey.

Ric Wright

Ric is the Head Varsity Football Coach Mt Vernon High School from 2000- present. Developed the Mt Vernon Razorback Pop Warner Organization as its Athletic Director from 1986 - 2002. Served as Athletic Coordinator for the city of Mt Vernon. Serve’s as consultant to the NFL JPD and HSPD programs as well as running and developing NFL summer football camps. Founder of the Varsity Sports Academy a not for profit youth organization that serves the North Bronx Community. Serve’s on several youth boards such as the UDC Coalition which runs one of the best summer basketball leagues in NYS.  

Joe Ross 

Dr. Ross (Retired, US Army) is the President of HigherEchelon, Inc., a service disabled veteran owned small business. Joe’s background includes diverse leadership assignments, years of performance study, and the development of organizational effectiveness programs, culminating in the Resilient and Adaptable Leader (RAL) concept. With the RAL Team, Joe helps deliver the RAL program to groups such as eBay, Merck, Cornell Executive MBA program and Dartmouth University Athletic Department, seeking to improve team results, leader effectiveness, and overall organizational performance. In addition, Joe has consulted with NFL teams about state of the art technology to enhance coaching and player learning.  
 
Joe served as the Director of the Military Enhancement Program at the United States Military Academy (USMA) from 2003 – 2008. During his tenure, Joe designed and co-taught an upper level elective course for 21st Century Army Leaders and advised the Army on developing a standardized framework for educating and training all military personnel about the intangible emotional and mental skills of performance. Most notably, Joe spearheaded the proposal, development, and execution of the Army Center for Enhanced Performance (ACEP), an Army-wide lifelong peak performance program for all Army soldiers and families. Now called Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2), this program serves military personnel with facilities at most major Army installations in America. In 2007, Joe served on a Presidential committee to review and design procedures for wounded warriors in transition. As a respected USMA graduate, Joe served on a 10-member panel selected by the Superintendent in June/December 2007 to help develop a strategic plan for continuing the winning tradition of USMA. 
 
As a 1995 West Point graduate, Joe was a three-year letter winner and co-captain of the 1994 Army Football team. During his career as an Infantry Officer, Joe managed all logistics for over 1,000 personnel; directed human resources for over 4,000 personnel; prevented an armed conflict in Macedonia; and helped write the Soldier’s Creed. As a commander in the 101st Airborne Division, the Secretary of the Army commended Joe’s unit for capturing two insurgents on the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) top ten most wanted list and bringing the Serbian and Albanian leadership together to start a dialogue of reconciliation while deployed to Kosovo in 2001. Dr. Ross was medically retired in 2008 from the Army as a Major. In 2009, Joe joined the Army Football coaching staff as the Special Teams and Fullback Coach, where he helped lead Army Football to the 2010 Independence Bowl victory. Joe received a Master of Education in Athletic Counseling from Springfield College and his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from Walden University.

Chris Adams 

Christopher J. Adams joined Pep Boys in March 2013 after having most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of CarGroup Holdings LLC d/b/a webuyanycar.com since November 2010.  
From July 2008 to September 2010, Mr. Adams served as Chief Operating Officer of The Management Company for Holland Partners, a developer and redeveloper of Multifamily housing.  
 From November 2006 to July 2008, Mr. Adams served as Chief Operating Officer of BabyPlus, a manufacturer of a pre natal education system.  
 Mr. Adams began his career at Enterprise rent-A-Car in September of 1989 where through July of 2006 he progressed from a management trainee to become one of the executives selected to open and lead Enterprises's U.K. operations.  
 Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Youngstown State University where he attended on a Football scholarship earning two varsity letters under Coach Narduzzi and Coach Tressel.